PHOENIX - Kyrsten Sinema has defeated Martha McSally in the highly contested race for an Arizona Senate seat, per the Associated Press. This comes after several days of ballot counting and controversy over rural county results.
Sinema (D) defeated McSally (R) for the seat previously held by Senator Jeff Flake, who chose not to run again in this election.
On Friday, Republican and Democrat leaders agreed to give rural counties a second chance to fix ballot issues with voters. GOP leaders hoped the move would help Republicans gain votes for McSally in the race, but Sinema's lead was eventually too wide to recover from.
With this win, Sinema will be named the first female U.S. Senator from the state of Arizona.
Democrats are projected to have at least 47 Senate seats at the start of the new Congress in 2019. Republicans have clinched 51 seats, with Republican Rick Scott holding a narrow lead in Florida's US Senate race. Republicans are also likely to win next month's runoff for a seat in Mississippi.
